Home Organization & Decluttering Ideas for November

With Thanksgiving, cozy nights in, and various holidays on the horizon, it’s good to give your home even more TLC than usual in November. We have curated a variety of different organization, decluttering, and cleaning ideas to give you guidance and day-by-day plans to get your home looking and feeling fresh and clutter-free.

November Decluttering & Organization

Our November declutter and organization ideas give you a full month of ideas to reset and reorganize various areas of your house.

Put away ten items that are not in their right place. Walk through the house with a basket and pick up ten items that don’t belong where they currently are (e.g., mugs on the nightstand, chargers on the couch). Then, return each item to where it belongs. If you don’t need some of the items, you could also consider adding them to your donation bag.

Set a 15-minute timer to go through mail & other paperwork. First, go through any mail that hasn’t been opened yet and other paperwork where you need to take action (e.g., RSVPs, forms, bills). If you have any time left, sort through and organize other papers you have (e.g., file receipts, shred anything with personal info you don’t need, recycle flyers).

Put away the Halloween decorations. Take all the Halloween decor down (if you haven’t already). Toss anything that’s broken. Donate anything you don’t plan to use in the coming years. Organize and store everything else neatly for next year.

Find one item to donate and one item to recycle. A good place to start for finding one item to donate is the closet or the kitchen. In the closet, look for clothes that you haven’t worn in a year or more or clothes that don’t fit anymore. In the kitchen, look for duplicate kitchen tools or kitchen gadgets you don’t use. For recycling, look for old plastic containers, empty toiletry bottles, magazines, outdated manuals, and cardboard packaging.

Tidy and organize any display shelves and wall art/photos. Dust the shelves and frames. Clean the glass on frames. Consider whether there’s anything you want to remove from the display shelves or the walls. Organize the remaining items and straighten any frames.

Set a timer for 15 minutes and tidy the kitchen. Start with the visible wins like decluttering and wiping down the countertops, tossing any expired food from the fridge, and doing the dishes or emptying the dishwasher.

Choose one drawer in the kitchen to declutter and organize. Empty the drawer and wipe it out. Sort everything into 1) keep, 2) donate, 3) toss/recycle, and 4) relocate. Use organizers like trays or drawer dividers to keep everything neatly sorted when returning the items to the drawer.

Week 2 Decluttering (November 8-14)

Choose three shelves in the pantry or cupboards to tidy and organize. Empty each shelf, then wipe it down. Toss any expired or stale items. Add unopened in-date items you won’t use to a donation box. Relocate items that don’t belong there. Group the remaining items by category and put the most frequently used ones at eye level or in the front.

Take 20 minutes to tidy a bit more of the pantry/cupboards. Set a timer and focus on one problem cupboard or pantry area. You can also focus on one problem category (e.g., matching food storage containers with lids and recycling any without matches).

Wipe down the small appliances in the kitchen. First, unplug each appliance and wipe down the outside as well as under and behind the appliance. Then, clean the appliance itself (e.g., for the toaster, empty the crumb tray and shake the toaster gently over the sink). Ask yourself which appliances are not used daily and consider storing them in a cabinet instead of on the counter.

Clean and organize the fridge for 20 minutes. Focus on quick wins like tossing expired food and recycling empty condiment bottles. Group foods by category (e.g., dairy, condiments, produce).

Organize your tea and coffee supplies. Gather all tea and coffee supplies in one place. Toss anything stale. Combine half-empty containers/boxes into one. Store coffee and loose-leaf tea in airtight containers.

Toss any broken dishes and mugs. Go through all your dishes, glasses, and mugs, and toss anything chipped or cracked.

Tidy and organize the spice cabinet/shelf. Toss spices that are way past their expiration date/stale. Combine duplicates and recycle empty containers. Pick an organization system that works for you (e.g., alphabetical, savory vs. sweet).

Set a timer for 20 minutes to organize the remaining things in the kitchen. For 15 minutes, focus on the areas that bother you the most in the kitchen (these could be the messiest zones or the most visible zones). For the final 5 minutes of the timer, organize and wipe down the countertops to make the kitchen feel tidier.

Toss any single socks without a pair. Gather all the socks and match the pairs. Toss any single ones, and while at it, you can also toss socks with holes, worn heels, or any stretched-out elastic.

Choose one shelf in the closet to declutter and tidy. Pick the most crammed or the most visible shelf. Sort the items into 1) keep, 2) donate, 3) toss, and 4) relocate. If it’s a big shelf, consider using shelf dividers or bins to keep everything neatly organized.

Choose one drawer in the closet to declutter and organize. Pick the messiest drawer or the one that’s hardest to open or close. Empty the drawer and wipe it out. Sort everything from the drawer into 1) keep, 2) donate, 3) toss, and 4) relocate. Use drawer dividers or small boxes to organize things if needed.

Organize all the hangers in the closet. Start by removing the empty hangers from the closet. Consider whether any of the hangers need replacing (e.g., broken, mismatched). Matching hangers can make a big difference in the closet. You can use slim velvet hangers for saving space and wood hangers for heavy coats. Finally, group the clothes by category (e.g., dresses, jackets, pants).

Donate shoes you no longer need. Take a look at all the shoes you own and consider which ones you can donate. Start with ones you haven’t worn in over a year, shoes that hurt your feet (but that might work for someone else), and shoes you just don’t plan to wear anymore. You can toss ones that are falling apart or are too worn to donate.

Sort through your accessories and organize them. Consider all the accessories you have (e.g., scarves, belts, hats, bags, sunglasses, costume jewelry). Sort and organize by category. Toss broken accessories that can’t be repaired and donate ones you don’t need anymore.

Get the November Printable

Get the November Decluttering Printable here.

You may also enjoy our other November calendars and ideas as well as general fall ideas and activities.